Label Review. 

2020 album. First new collection of original songs in eight years. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

For nearly sixty years, Bob Dylan is one of the biggest and influential songwriters and musicians in the world and releases his 37th studio album (depending exactly what counts!) ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ in 2020. It is his first collection of original material since ‘Tempest’ in 2012 although he hasn’t been idle since then nor has his fanbase around the world been starved of product. He has released three albums of American songbook standards in the interim as well as a further six vault combing ‘Bootleg Series’ sets. On top of this Bob keeps up a constant touring schedule although that has been scuppered in 2020 due to the Covid crisis. There is also the matter of his Nobel Prize for Literature he collected in 2017.

Fans had been wondering if Bob had the ability to come up with a new album but on 27th March 2020 with no warning he announced the unveiling of an “unreleased” track “Murder Most Foul” a 17 minute “gift to fans for their support and loyalty over the years.” It was seen as a possible response to the Covid-19 pandemic while more hopeful fans felt that maybe a new album was finally in the offing. Ostensibly about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963 over a delicate instrumental backing of violin, piano and hushed percussion, Bob moved onto a roll call of musicians, movie lyrics and other pop culture references. Ann Powers and Bob Boilen of National Public Radio analysed the song and identified over 70 songs referenced in the work.

Three weeks later a second song “I Contain Multitudes” dropped - a more convention length but instrumentally cut from similar cloth as the first and again referencing pop culture icons like The Rolling Stones and David Bowie in his lyrics. Another three weeks down the line a third song, the more upbeat and bluesy “False Prophet” came with the end of the suspense and the announcement that a new album was indeed on the way. On the evidence of the songs issued so far and assuming the quality holds up this promises to be the best Bob Dylan in many years.

Tracklisting: I Contain Multitudes / False Prophet / Murder Most Foul / (7 more tracks to be announced)

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Doomshakalaka is a new project by Paul Rafferty, former vocalist and bassist for Liverpool indie rock band Hot Club De Paris. On his 30th birthday, Rafferty came up with the name as it sounded like “Boomshakalaka!” (a snippet of in-game commentary from the video game NBA Jam) but with a D, giving a usually celebratory exclamation a paradoxical sense of dread. He set about concocting an album’s worth of songs that embraced this juxtaposed vision - a glistening collection of indie pearls exploring memory, nostalgia and loss.

Over the following years, Rafferty worked to fulfil this uncertain vision and wrote hundreds of fragments of music, melodies and lyrics and slowly distilled them down into 10 songs of stirring, nostalgia-tinged indie rock. Influenced by luminaries such as Television, Big Star, Wings-era McCartney, Deerhunter, Pavement and Stephen Malkmus’ solo work, Rafferty divided himself between the roles of writer, performer, engineer, producer and mixer and took about the task of making physical the sounds that had long lived unsatisfied in his head. “Some of the songs off this record started life in 2011”, Rafferty explains, “but without a band or the capital to record, they waited in the wings until I could beg, borrow or buy the gear to record them exactly how I thought they should be heard”

Doomshakalaka is constructed of chord sequences that conjure longing, sadness, desire and hope in equal measure. With strange and surprising arrangements that avoid the ancient and familiar beaten paths of guitar music, Doomshakalaka seeks to tell Rafferty’s stories in a playful and inventive manner and provide a platform to showcase the album’s central theme of the unfinished business of youth. Paul says “It’s largely a record about remembering moments from my teens and 20s and what those moments mean to me now. I love the texture that ageing brings to an artist’s output. I like the sound of a big hole dug deep.”

Tracklisting: One Last Saturday Night / The Curse / James Asleep / I’ll Kill You, Motherfucker / This Is War (And I’m So Bored) / Werewolf Shadow / The Lost Homework of Isabella Perez / The Fate of the Hero Montage / Skinhead Suit / Black Balloons

Label Review. 

2020 debut album. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Muzz, the new project of Americans’ Paul Banks (Interpol), Josh Kaufman (producer/multi-instrumentalist and one third of Bonny Light Horseman), and Matt Barrick (drummer of Jonathan Fire*Eater, The Walkmen, and Fleet Foxes’ touring band), have announced their self-titled, debut album, out on Matador Records.

Muzz was born out of longstanding friendship and collaboration. Banks and Kaufman have known each other since childhood, attending high school together in Spain before separately moving to New York. There, they independently crossed paths with Barrick while running in similar music circles. They kept in touch in the following years: Barrick drummed in Banks + Steelz and on some of Kaufman’s production sessions; Kaufman helped on Banks’ early Julian Plenti solo endeavour; various demos were collaborated on, and a studio was co-bought.

The self-titled debut album, written, arranged and performed by all three, is dark and gorgeous, expansive and soulful. No matter the sonic direction, Muzz goes there effortlessly and with maximum emotional charge.

Tracklisting: Bad Feeling / Evergreen / Red Western Sky / Patchouli / Everything Like It Used To Be / Broken Tambourine / Knuckleduster / Chubby Checker / How Many Days / Summer Love / All Is Dead To Me / Trinidad

Label Review. 

Unreleased album from 1975. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

The ever prolific Canadian singer songwriter Neil Young finally releases one of his most talked about unreleased albums - ‘Homegrown’. He has said this album is “the unheard bridge between [the albums] ‘Harvest’ and ‘Comes a Time’”, which perfectly describes the warm, semi-acoustic feel of these twelve songs. Originally intended to be released in 1975, the album has remained unreleased since then, and has a legendary status among Neil’s fans.

Chronologically speaking, ‘Homegrown’ was due to be the follow-up to his 1974 album ‘On The Beach’. Largely acoustic in nature it would have been seen at the time as a return to the sound of ‘Harvest’ his biggest selling album. However once it was completed in January 1975 he had a playback party and an another unreleased album ‘Tonight’s The Night’ recorded in 1973 was on the same reel. Hearing both, Young decided to issue that album instead feeling that ‘Homegrown’ was too “down” and “personal”.

Seven of the songs are previously unreleased on any album, and different versions of the other five songs would appear on later Neil Young albums. Neil plays guitar, piano and harmonica on the album, and is accompanied by a stellar group of musicians including Levon Helm, Ben Keith, Karl T Himmel, Tim Drummond, Emmylou Harris and Robbie Robertson. ‘Homegrown’ was so close to being issued at the time the artwork had already been prepared. That original sleeve is being used for its long awaited release.

Tracklisting: Separate Ways / Try / Mexico / Love Is A Rose / Homegrown / Florida / Kansas / We Don’t Smoke It / White Line / Vacancy / Little Wing / Star Of Bethlehem

Label Review. 

2020 album. Prog rock. Also available on CD & 2CD. 

Our Overview. 

Haken are an English progressive metal band formed in 2007 and they release their sixth album the topically titled ‘Virus’. Since releasing their last album ‘Vector’ in October 2018, Haken have completed headline tours the world over, played sold-out shows across Europe and North America as support for Devin Townsend and picked up a Prog award for their efforts too! All the while, they have been quietly, secretly working on the follow-up album.

All the initial ideas were created back when they were writing ‘Vector’ at the end of 2017. The album title generated surprise as it was announced during the COVID-19 pandemic, but vocalist Ross Jennings said it was just coincidental. The singer also remarked that “whilst ‘Virus’ can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand-alone work, it is thematically and conceptually linked with ‘Vector’.

The band comments: “[The track] “Prosthetic” was the first song we completed during the ‘Virus’ writing sessions and we always felt it would be the perfect opener for the album. It’s a very guitar heavy track with its roots in 80s thrash riffing, but with the unconventional rhythmic twists and turns we often like to explore in Haken. We sadly never had a Jeff Hanneman and Robert Fripp collaboration, but this song at least draws on inspiration from them both! Lyrically the song is a bridge between our two albums ‘Vector’ and ‘Virus’. The message was brilliantly brought to life by video director Vicente Cordero, who also beautifully captured the live energy of the band in a way that both enhances the song, and perfectly sets the scene for what’s to come.”

Tracklisting: Prosthetic / Invasion / Carousel / The Strain / Canary Yellow / Messiah Complex i: Ivory Tower / Messiah Complex ii: A Glutton for Punishment / Messiah Complex iii: Marigold / Messiah Complex iv: The Sect / Messiah Complex v: Ectobius Rex / Only Stars

Label Review. 

Chocs Away (1975) / The Great Artiste (1976) / Golden Mile (1976) / Five Live Kursaals (1977) / A Former Tour De Force Is Forced To Tour (1988) plus bonus tracks. RPM.

Our Overview. 

Kursaal Flyers were an integral element of the ‘Thames Delta’ music scene emerging from the late 60s clubs into the bright lights of the 1970s pop world. Alongside contemporaries, and in some cases old schoolmates, in bands such as Dr Feelgood and Eddie & The Hot Rods , the Kursaal Flyers (named after a Southend amusement park carnival float) were a regular fixture on the Pub Rock and College circuit of 70s Britain.

Their sound was more diverse than their R&B contemporaries. Being influenced by American Country Rock, the band included banjo and pedal steel guitar as fixtures in their musical oeuvre. They toured Europe with The Flying Burrito Brothers. The Kursaals were also notable for a wry observational sense of humour which the band’s songwriters, Will Birch and Graeme Douglas, regularly injected into the material. Complemented by the chameleon-like vocal styles employed by front man Paul Shuttleworth.

Disc One contains the two complete albums made for Jonathan King’s UK Records label in 1975, ‘Chocs Away’ and ‘The Great Artiste’. Presented in a gatefold wallet to show the original artwork for both of the original LPs, these are the greatly enhanced remixed versions from 1991.

Disc Two has their first CBS album from 1976 ,’Golden Mile’, produced by Mike Batt, including both versions of their hit single “Little Does She Know”, the single edit, and the “kitchen sink” LP version which comes on like the 1812 Overture involving as they do the London Symphony Orchestra. Plus the non LP A+B-sides, and an unreleased track “The Questionnaire”.

Disc 3 has their live album recorded at The Marquee, ‘Five Live Kursaals’ released by CBS in 1977. As live albums tend to do, these recordings highlight how the band truly were on stage, a highly energetic rock band with a raw sound belying their country roots. A particular image in the booklet gives further rise to their mood depicting the moment Paul would smash up TV sets on stage with an axe (in an homage to The Move). Plus three tracks which were unreleased at the time, from recording sessions with Muff Winwood aimed at a second CBS studio LP which was never finalised.

Disc 4 is their third studio LP, ‘A Former Tour De Force Is Forced To Tour’ recorded in 1988 and exhibits a very strong country rock groove, which would not be out of place if released to today’s Americana market. The bonus tracks include a four song 1975 countryfied radio session, and a 1975 live recording in Southend of “Route 66” which is interestingly somewhere between Bobby Troup’s nightclub jazz original and Chuck Berry’s RnB version.

Tracklisting:

Disc One: Chocs Away / The Great Artiste: Pocket Money / Hit Records / Kung Fu / Tennessee / Chocs Away / Speedway / Brakeman / Now I’m Back / Yellow Sox / Silver Wings / Cross Country / Ugly Guys / The Great Artiste / Fall Like The Rain / Cruisin’ For Love / Back To The Book / Palais De Danse / Pain And Misery / Hypochondriac / Television / Drinking Alone

Disc Two: The Golden Mile: Little Does She Know / One Arm Bandit / Drinking Socially / Two Left Feet / Modern Lovers / Street Of The Music / Radio Romance / When The Band’s On The Stand / Detroit Tin / Third Finger Left Hand / Ready To Go / Little Does She Know (Edit) / Girl Talk / The Questionnaire / The Sky’s Falling In On Our Love / Revolver

Disc Three: Five Live Kursaals: Original Model / Yellow Sox / Pocket Money / Cruisin’ For Love / The Sky’s Falling In On Our Love / Little Does She Know / Street Of The Music / Tv Dinners / Speedway / Revolver / On My Mind / Anna (Go To Him) / Friday On My Mind / Television Generation / Girlfriend Kinda Girl / Everything But A Heartbeat / Girls That Don’t Exist

Disc Four: A Former Tour De Force Is Forced To Tour: If You Would Only Talk To Me (Like You Talk To The Dog) / Pre-Madonna / Tonight Before Tonight / Man In Mohair / A Former Tour De Force Is Forced To Tour / Luxury Lane / My Sugar Turns To Alcohol / Paranoid Weekend / Old Men Need Some Lovin’ Too / Monster-In-Law / Cruisin’ For Love (Remake) / Slimmin’ (For The Women) / Walking To School / Route 66 (Live) / Tennessee (Radio Session) / Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Radio Session) / Yellow Sox (Radio Session) / Route 66 (Radio Session)

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Australian indie rock band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have turned their gaze inward, to their individual pasts and the places that inform them, on their second full-length, ‘Sideways to New Italy.’ Led by singer-songwriter-guitarists Tom Russo, Joe White and Fran Keaney, the guitar-pop five-piece returned home to Australia after the relentless touring schedule that came following their critically regarded 2018 debut ‘Hope Downs’.

The New Italy of the new album’s title is a village near New South Wales’ Northern Rivers – the area drummer Marcel Tussie is from. A blink-and you’ll- miss-it pit-stop of a place with fewer than 200 residents, it was founded by Venetian immigrants in the late-1800s and now serves as something of a living monument to Italians’ contribution to Australia, with replica Roman statues dotted like alien souvenirs on the otherwise rural landscape.

The parallels to the way the band attempted to maintain connections and create familiarity during their disorienting time on the road was apparent to Russo. “These are the expressions of people trying to find a home somewhere alien: trying to create a utopia in a turbulent and imperfect world.” The record’s geographic identity emerged from the band losing their grip on their own, whether that was through the pressure of touring, the dissolution of relationships, a frustrating distance from their daily lives – or some combination of all three – that came from being slingshotted all over the world, playing sold-out headline tours and festivals including Coachella, Governors Ball, Primavera Sound, All Points East, and Pitchfork Music Festival.

The notion of crafting, in Russo’s words, “a utopia of where your heart’s from,” permeates Sideways to New Italy, in which early attempts at writing big, high-concept songs about The State of the World were abandoned in favor of love songs, and familiar voices and characters filter in and out, grounding the band’s stories in their personal histories. There’s something comforting, too, in knowing the next time they’re buffeted from stage to stage around the world, they’ll be taking the voices of their loved ones with them, building a new totem of home no matter where they end up.

Tracklisting: The Second Of The First / Falling Thunder / She’s There / Beautiful Steven / The Only One / Cars In Space / Cameo / Not Tonight / Sunglasses At The Wedding / The Cool Change

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

London based experimental producer and composer, Leifur James announces his return with the release of his highly anticipated second album ‘Angel in Disguise’. Driving, melancholic electronica, the first single “Wise Old Man” is a nod to what can be expected of James’ second album, showcasing a more experimental side to his production. Traversing through musicality, progressive synths and introspection, this first single unveils the producer’s distinct sound with disorientated vocals; speaking of the interplay between reason and emotion, the lyrics repeat “Wise old man in my brain, soul bursting through my veins”, opening the gates to this captivating electronically steered opus.

This news comes after an incredible few years for the artist. 2018 saw James release his esteemed debut album ‘A Louder Silence’ which captured the attention of key tastemakers including Resident Advisor, Pitchfork, Mixmag, Electronic Sound and Future Music UK.

‘Angel In Disguise’ promises to explore the themes of love and loss through a masterful blend of harmonic vocals from James himself, nuanced electronic soundscapes and vibrant percussion - punctuated by bespoke visuals, directed by Balázs Simon. This exciting project is expected to make waves and see James step up, exhibiting his discerning ear and painstakingly honed production craft.

Tracklisting: Circles / Black Lens / I Ran With You / Wise old man / Angel In Disguise / Ritual / Alien (feat. Coby Sey) / Strange with you / Rebel

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Steve Earle is one of the most respected names in the US country/Americana genre after spending his twenties as a session musician and songwriter in Nashville he finally got a solo break in 1986 with his debut album ‘Guitar Town’ and his third album ‘Copperhead Road’ was a big hit two years later. After a few years away in the early 1990s nursing drug problems, Steve hasn’t looked back and has been incredibly productive rarely going more than a couple of years without a new album. His latest ‘Ghosts of West Virginia’, with his backing band The Dukes, is his 20th studio album. It was mixed entirely in mono, lending a sonic cohesion and punch. In recent years, Earle has experienced partial hearing loss in one ear and can no longer discern the separation that stereo is designed to produce. The recording features his latest incarnation of his backing band The Dukes; Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle & vocals, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, guitar & dobro, Brad Pemberton on drums & percussion, and Jeff Hill on acoustic & electric bass.

‘Ghosts of West Virginia’ centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Earle started working on the album after being approached by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, a playwright team that would create ‘Coal Country’, a theater piece about the disaster. They interviewed the surviving West Virginia miners, along with the families of the miners who died, and created monologues for their characters using those words. Working closely with Oskar Eustis, the Public Theater’s Artistic Director, they workshopped the songs and text for nearly four years. Earle functioned as “a Greek chorus with a guitar,” in his words. He was on stage for the entire play and performed seven of the songs that lead ‘Ghosts of West Virginia’, including the powerful “It’s About Blood,” in which Earle blazons the names of all the men who died. The songs provided personal, historical and social context for the testimony of the play’s characters. Opening to critical acclaim on March 3rd, the production was postponed indefinitely after only two weeks due to restrictions and safety concerns because of COVID-19.

In ten deftly drawn, powerfully conveyed sonic portraits, Earle explores the historical role of coal in rural communities. With 'Ghosts of West Virginia', Earle says that he was interested in exploring a new approach to his songwriting. “I’ve already made the preaching-to-the-choir album,” he says, specifically alluding to his 2004 Grammy Award winning 'The Revolution Starts...Now'. As anyone politically attuned as Earle understands, there are times when the faithful need music that will raise their spirits and toughen their resolve. But he came to believe that our times might also benefit from something that addresses a different audience, songs written from a point of view that he is particularly capable of rendering.

Steve Earle & The Dukes suffered a major loss when, not long before the band went into the studio, bassist Kelley Looney, who had played with Earle for thirty years, passed away. Beyond the death of a longstanding musical partner, Earle was faced with the prospect of finding someone who could share the telepathic musical communication so characteristic of the band. Happily, Jeff Hill, recently of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, joined the band on bass. “Earle says, “Jeff stepped into the breach, but it was hard. It was really hard.” In addition to the 29 miners killed at Upper Big Branch, Ghosts of West Virginia is dedicated to the memory of Kelley Looney.

Tracklisting: Heaven Ain’t Goin’ / Nowhere / Union, God and Country / Devil Put the Coal in the Ground / John Henry was a Steel Drivin’ Man / Time is Never on Our Side / It’s About Blood / If I Could See Your Face / Again / Black Lung / Fastest Man Alive / The Mine

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Hot English band The 1975 have cued up their fourth album ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ for release in the Spring 2020. In 2019 they played a “will they won’t they” game regarding whether the album was coming or not, teasing fans with chatter online but finally in July they put out “The 1975” the first single from the album which featured the climate activist Greta Thunberg reading a mission statement. At the time of writing in January 2020, a total of four songs have now been trailed from the thumping “People” to the jittery Burial soundalike “Frail State Of Mind”.

“Me & You Together Song” with its indie rock feel shows the new album will be another diverse collection from the talented and highly popular four-piece who’s first three albums all went to No.1 in their native UK. Frontman Matthew Healy explained that the album would be inspired by British nighttime culture, adding that it contains references to “the beauty of the M25 and all those lights and going to McDonald’s and listening to garage records in a haze in a Peugeot 206.”

Label Review. 

2020 album. Indie. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

Belgian avant-rock band founded in 1977 by Marc Hollander and Vincent Kenis:Aksak Maboul - the seminal Crammed band - return with a brand-new opus entitled ‘Figures’, a double album containing 22 tracks: it took no less than that to accommodate the flow of ideas which arose after such a long gap and is set to be released through Crammed Discs, the label set up by Marc Hollander in 1981. And this is their first new album in 40 years.

Drawing again from the multiple sources which have always inspired the band (from electronic music and pop to experimentation, jazz, minimalism, contemporary classical etc), Aksak Maboul reconfigures them with its inimitable style. The album was wholly written, conceived and produced by Marc Hollander & Veronique Vincent, and features contributions by the band’s current live line-up (Faustine Hollander, Lucien Fraipont & Erik Heestermans, and by guests including Fred Frith, Steven Brown (Tuxedomoon), three members of Aquaserge and more.

As summed up in 2017 by writer Mikey IQ Jones, “the roots of Aksak Maboul's appeal and longevity lie within the collective's shapeshifting lineup and their chameleonic aesthetic abilities; the group's ever-mutating sound is akin to a sonic möbius strip, always digesting and recontextualising itself, where seams and edges show but continually fold in upon themselves as the madness evolves. The best part? That evolution hasn't yet ceased.”

Tracklisting:

CD/LP 1: Among The Naeporu / C’est Charles / Taciturne / Silhouettes / True”,” False”,” Fictive / Histoires De Fous / Sophie La Bevue / Formerly Known As Defile / How Should One Read A Book? / Spleenetique / Sgraffites

CD/LP 2: The Untranslatable / Retour Chez A / Dramuscule / Excerpt From Uccellini / Un Caid / Martial Arts For Boys / Un Certain M / Ins Bleistiftgebiet / Fatrasie Pulverisee / Qu’est-ce Que C’est Mot? / Tout A Une Fin

Label Review. 

2020 album. Indie. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Hailing from Birmingham, England and spawned in the punk scene of the late 1970s as The Prefects whose claim to fame was as one of the support acts on The Clash’s ‘White Riot Tour’ in early 1977 - four members of that band became Nightingales in 1979. An air of the unsettled is a staple of leader Robert Lloyd’s career, from The Prefects’s dank dexterity and jittery paranoia of the first Nightingales’ single, “Idiot Strength”, onward through four decades of top-notch recordings. If the unique persona of Lloyd and crew always came across on their ten albums and countless line-ups, it was largely as an acquired taste of the musical cognoscenti. Labels good and bad seemed to feel, at one point or another, a public duty and a point of pride to release a Nightingales album before returning to the business of business.

Label Review.

2020 album. Singer songwriter. Also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Jim Elkington, Chicago based guitarist and songwriter moved to the United States in the late ’90s from his native England with the intention of making himself absolutely essential to the Chicago music scene. Twenty years later he’s contributed to a staggering volume of records and shows and projects both in Chicagoland (see Jeff Tweedy; Tortoise; Eleventh Dream Day; Brokeback) and far from it (see Richard Thompson; Laetitia Sadier; Michael Chapman; Steve Gunn; Joan Shelley; Nap Eyes). The 2017 release of the wonderful ‘Wintres Woma’, his first so-called solo album, seemed to be a logical, healthy respite from assisting with the creative needs of others that would allow him to serve his own. The record certainly sounded as though James found in it every reason to be satisfied—among much else, it effectively reconciled his personal and musical mongreltude as a child of Britain and a man of America—and thus could return his focus to bettering other folks’ records.

2020 and now Jim is releasing ‘Ever-Roving Eye’ which is even more elaborate, shrewd, thoughtful, and confessional than its predecessor. Though it sounds like a line culled from a murderous Child ballad, the title has everything to do instead with the slipperiness of satisfaction, and the equal parts virtue and vice that is being your own mule and driver. The album features previous collaborators Nick Macri (bass) and Macie Stewart (violin). The album also includes new collaborators Lia Kohl (cello), Spencer Tweedy (drums), The Weather Station's Tamara Lindeman (vocals), and Paul Von Mertens (Brian Wilson) on woodwinds. 

The latest track off ‘Ever-Roving Eye’ is called “Late Jim’s Lament.” Its title has a double meaning, alluding to never being on time but also dying before getting to everything a person is setting out to do. “No matter how I drive I know I can’t out-drive the hearse, ’cause it’s too late in my mind and getting later all the time,” Elkington sings. Like his other work, “Late Jim’s Lament” manages to conjure up folk traditions, psychedelic guitar sojourns, and Chicago’s idiosyncratic rock classicists all at once.

The album’s lead single/video, “Nowhere Time,” is a call to take up arms against procrastination, and features some of Elkington’s most daring guitar-wrangling. “A more cosmic acquaintance of mine once told me that when your life is going in the direction you want it to, it’s the universe’s way of telling you that you are in the place you’re meant to be,” Elkington says. “Does that sound likely? Not at all, but the song asks the question anyway…” The track’s accompanying video, directed by Tim Harris, features James, Spencer Tweedy on drums, and Nick Macri on upright bass.

Tracklisting: Nowhere Time / Sleeping Me Awake / Leopards Lay Down / Moon Tempering / Rendlesham Way / Late Jim's Lament / Carousel / Go Easy on October / Ever-Roving Eye / Much Master

Label Review. 

2020 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

Known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy ‘Banana Skin Shoes’ is the English indie singer-songwriter Damon Gough’s ninth album and his first in 10 years so exciting news. The album is comprised of 14 tracks including previously released track ‘Is This A Dream?’ and sees Gough pushing forward yet again both musically and lyrically whilst retaining some of his classic trademarks. The bulk of the album’s production was completed at Eve Studios in Stockport last year with producer Gethin Pearson (Kele Okereke, JAWS) who also mixed the whole record. Damon had previously worked on tracks for the album with legendary producer Youth (The Verve, Paul McCartney) at his studio in London, Keir Stewart (ex-Durutti Column) at Inch Studios and Seadna McPhail at Airtight Studios. 

Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, Gough’s ‘Banana Skin Shoes’ is a truly personal & heartfelt collection of songs, a huge statement of intent & the most glorious, colourful warming, honest pop record you’ll hear this year.

Tracklisting: Banana Skin Shoes / Is This A Dream? / I Just Wanna Wish You Happiness / I’m Not Sure What It Is / Tony Wilson Said / You And Me Against The World / I Need Someone To Trust / Note To Self / Colours / Funny Time Of Year / Fly On The Wall / Never Change / Appletree Boulevard / I’ll Do My Best

Label Review. 

2020 album. Indie. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

English singer-songwriter Darren Hayman’s latest album ‘Home Time’ is an autobiographical album about break ups, the record is tender, honest and frequently funny. When Darren Hayman made his debut in 1997 with the acclaimed indie band Hefner (DJ John Peel was an ardent supporter) his lyrical remit was the broken hearted. His early songs told the story of the lonesome and lost, and broken dreams of love on the back streets of London. After Hefner, Hayman’s palette grew to include a unique take on place and memory. In the early 2000s he wrote a trilogy of albums around the history of Essex. In 2012 he made an instrumental album describing the tranquillity of Lidos.

In 2016 he was awarded ‘Hardest Working Musician’ by the Association of Independent Music for his epic project on ‘Thankful Villages’, the 55 villages that survived the Great War with no casualties. Darren is continually obsessed with the idea of what songs can be, and the stories they can tell. As he explains, “With projects like ‘Thankful Villages’, I became interested in what a record could be, using field recordings, interviews and songs to make sound collages. I wanted to return to the stricter art of song writing and try and make the twelve best compositions I could. I wanted to make useful songs, words that could be comfort, not just thoughts that would depress.”

Darren set an 8 track, acoustic rule for the record. and everything sounds warm, close and intimate. His own love-worn, London voice is joined on every song by the sweet antipodean tones of Hannah Winter and Laura K, recording artists and songwriters themselves with Common or Garden and Fortitude Valley. The songs for ‘Home Time’ were written over a three-year period but recorded quickly, and with love, in Darren’s home. ‘Home Time’ is a fragile, subtle slice of prettiness. “I Tried and I Tried and I Failed”, a song about the endless, circular nature of being human. “I Was Thinking About You”, is a song about the uncontrollable nature of memory and how it continues to haunt us even when we consider the long buried, and “The Joint Account”, about how when trying to negotiate matters of the heart and mind, it is sometimes the physical objects that anchor us down in the mire.

Tracklisting: Curl Up / I Was Thinking About You / Because We Were Impossible / I Am The Noise / I Want To Get Drunk / I Tried and I Tried and I Failed / I Love You, I Miss You, Come Back / Dinosaur Plate / The Joint Account / Kissing A Cloud / A Girl That I’m Seeing / Wrap Yourself Around Me

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Tim Burgess (of UK legends The Charlatans) is releasing his fifth solo album ‘I Love The New Sky’ and is his first on the acclaimed Bella Union label. Frontman, singer, label boss, DJ and author, he’s been instrumental in so many great records over the years, always bringing enthusiasm, positivity and diversity of influence, which altogether light the way for those who hold him dear. While in The Charlatans, Tim’s indefatigable energy has been a consistent fuel for the band across thirteen high-charting albums, his solo adventure has been no less extraordinary and began nearly 20 years ago with his West Coast influenced debut album ‘I Believe’ where he worked out his love of Bob Dylan, The Byrds and The Beach Boys, which he couldn’t fully express with his main band.

It wasn’t until another gap in The Charlatans schedule that Tim put out another solo effort - 2012s ‘Oh No I Love You’ which mined similar territory as his first. Since then he has alternated a Charlatans album with one of his own although as they’ve been quiet since ‘Different Days’ in 2017, ‘I Love The New Sky’ is his second solo album since then It features wonderfully connective songs of everyday minutiae and universal experience, of love and anger, of loss and belonging, all united by elaborate yet natural arrangements and an effortless but deceptively expert way with melody.

In the Spring of 2020, Tim started ‘#TimsListeningParty’ on Twitter promoting classic albums from over the years, encouraging music lovers all over the world to listen to the same album at the same time and tweet comments as it’s playing. A unique idea and a fantastic way to connect with fans!

Tracklisting: Empathy For The Devil / Sweetheart Mercury / Comme D’habitude / Sweet Old Sorry Me / The Warhol Me / Lucky Creatures / The Mall / Timothy / Only Took A Year / I Got This / Undertow / Laurie